A Faraway Dream
by Monolaymoo
Summary: His lungs are burning. Just before he blacks out, he sees his last breaths escape him, bubbling up slowly. Mockingly.


He remembers flying just that morning. Garmadon was attacking again and he wanted to drive him away as soon as possible. He was careless in his haste, and suddenly, he was shot down into the frigid sea, still strapped to his dragon. The burning pain in his lungs as he desperately tried to unbuckle himself were the last of his memories just before the dark blur of water lulled him to sleep.

It...isn't a bad way to go. He had loved the sea as a kid. When it was low tide, when only few beaches goers visited, he would come down and play. He would wade in small pools left along tall rocks or the sand, and would pick up seashells and toss trapped fish back to the sea with their families and friends with his bucket. Most of the time, he would play pretend, dreaming of a life bound to a boat. A life of travel, adventures...going anywhere he'd like and leaving whenever he liked.

His uncle's stories fueled his imagination. Tales of faraway lands, beautiful lands, powerful warriors… He couldn't help investing a little by studying up Ninjago's geography. The things he learned there made him want to leave all the more, maybe try a hand in the traveller's life.

But as time went on, it got harder to keep dreaming and harder to enjoy the small moments of it he was granted. The other kids and adults began chasing him off the beach. His precious boat would be broken, stolen, or tossed away. Once when their teacher asked what they wanted all to be when they grew up, the whole class mocked and laughed at his 'stupid' job. Eventually, Lloyd buried the dream in his mind, as he did with many other things. Such was growing up.

The day he took the air for the first time was a wondrous moment. He was scared and excited. Soon, as he felt the winds blow against his skin, he felt exhilarated. He had never felt so happy and for a moment, he felt the dream come back. He felt like some grand adventurer or traveller, looking over Ninjago City like it was another stop.

…it could've been another stop. No one watched the warehouse often and certainly no one would think twice if one day the Green Ninja rode off into the horizon and Lloyd Garmadon disappeared. His mech required no fuel, only maintenance that he could provide no problem and it could be broken and put back together as another vehicle easily. He could disappear…he could disappear…

It was tempting. So, so, so, so tempting. There wasn't a day the thought didn't cross his mind. Everyday when he rode to battle, feeling the winds. When amidst the battle, he would be lost in a crowd soldiers, dropped from everyone's attentions. When he could hear his friends so caught up in their battles that no one is talking to him. When at the end of it, he finds himself perched on a building facing the endless ocean with nothing to stop him. But everyday, he relented. He would, with a pang in his chest, always return with his friends. They would celebrate, hang out and eat out, play videogames, then returned to his mom who greeted him with love. By then, the pang was gone but he knew it would be back tomorrow.

And it did, just not in the way he expected this time. Death by drowning, after all.

He runs up on deck, readying the sail for another adventure. He is a crew of one but he doesn't mind. He has seen the world and has friends in every one, he's far from lonely. The sun setting is beautiful, enough that it reminds him of a town he visited. It had a volcano and it relied on agriculture for its economy. They had the best tasting fruit so he makes a note to pass by there tomorrow and get some for his mother and uncle.

Once everything is ready, he returns to his cabin to read some letter from his friends. As always, they're all doing well. He reads about their travels and adventures, their achievements and failures. Lloyd starts writing by expressing his interests of hearing more before eagerly sharing his own escapades.

 _We should meet up soon_.

He puts the pen away when his ship is suddenly jostled. He falls on his feet his everything begins to crook to one side. The boat is capsizing!

It might have been the shock or fear, but he finds himself struggling just to get to the door and see what's going on. When he's finally out, he sees a raging

storm. Rain pours hard while the harsh winds threaten to blow his sail away. Thunder booms relentlessly.

He tries to head to helm to turn the ship around but the boat suddenly turns sharply and throws him aside. He lands square on the railings, the force burns his chest. He can't breathe. It hurts too much.

It's noisy. Screaming drowns his ears as the chaos around him gets worse. He suddenly feels another force strike his chest and he coughs, half sure blood should have come out. His body shakes violently and the repeated pain he feels scares him.

He's scared.

He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared. He's scared.

The shock forces Lloyd to return to life and the first thing he realizes is the mess underneath him. It's a disgusting white slop and he can do little to stop himself when he feels vomit creep up his throat. He empties it all out with a gasp before shrivelling back down. He feels like he's dying. He barely even registers his body being pulled up nor the soft, warm touch of the cotton fibres tightly wrapped around him. Instead, he looks up with a dazed bewilderment.

There is a flash of red.

"K-Kai…?"

A stagnant ringing keeps him from properly hearing a response. He tries to focus his eyes but his whole world returns to a white haze. Still, a part of him is assured that whoever is by him must be a friend. After all, who in their right mind would save a Garmadon?

Lloyd turns over, attempting to close his heavy eyes to rest. A sudden shake surprises him but he's too tired to be concerned. He thinks he hears noise when he falls into black oblivion again. He hopes to wake up again on his ship and to a blue sky.

"You're awake, Lloyd!" Kai rushes to hug him and he hugs slightly less harder than normal in fear of hurting his friend. Lloyd groans a little but he doesn't push the fiery boy away. Neither are even sure if he's in pain or just exhausted. He had been out since yesterday's battle and was still very weak.

A day's recovery would be all he needed but there were still some possible complications to watch out for, a lot of which were life threatening. None of them could stop worrying after knowing that! Only the assurance that it was Master Wu looking after him made them feel better.

Speaking of which, the old man shushed them. Lloyd needed silence to rest properly.

They all apologize and Kai lays him back down. He curls back down on the bed. "So what'd I miss…? You guys look awful."

"That's your fault, bro!"

"Quite. Kai was so we worried that he spent approximately two hours crying last night."

"H-Hey!"

"Anyway, I brought some tunes for you to listen to. Figured you'd be bored out of your mind." Cole brings with him a stack of his CD's. A good chunk are happy tunes to help keep his spirit up including a revision of "Get well soon!"

"You sure you're okay, Lloyd?" Jay meekly hands him some fruit while he asks him that. Lloyd nods.

"Yeah, just a little weak is all."

"Well, if you start to feel anything strange, you better tell us or Master Wu!" Nya patted his head playfully, looking out for him as always.

"I'll be fine. Master Wu said I just need to sleep, eat, and relax."

"You slept quite a bit, at least." Zane piped. "For 27 hours in fact!"

"T-TWENTY-SEVEN…?!"

"Lloyd!" Kai caught his friend, having strained himself from the shock.

"Zane!"

"My apologies, Lloyd! Nya! I thought he would want to know."

"Anyway, we told your mom you were just staying over with me so it's fine!" Cole assured him. His father was rarely home so if ever Koko would call, only he would answer the phone. There would be little chance of her finding the truth that way.

"How about we just play some games?" Kai offered. He grinned as he brought some controllers. "Bet I can beat you this time, Cole!"

"You wish!"

The two ran to set things up, leaving Lloyd with the others to catch up with what's he's missed, safe and surrounded by friends that cared.


End file.
